Thyroid Disease: Hyperthyroidism

The most important information you need to improve your health

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• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781440543036
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Diseases & Allergies

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with thyroid disease, you may feel overwhelmed by the challenges ahead. The Everything® Healthy Living Series is here to help. These concise, thoughtful guides offer the expert advice and the latest medical information you need to improve your health.Inside you'll find expert advice and helpful tips on understanding hyperthyroidism, treatment options for your overactive thyroid, the different medications available to you, and the steps you can take towards a healthy life.

What Is Hyperthyroidism?

You’re nervous, edgy, and your heart feels as if it’s always racing. At night, you can’t sleep. During the day, you feel warm and sweaty. If your thyroid is the culprit, you may have hyperthyroidism, which does exactly what the name suggests: It makes you hyper. Calming the overactive thyroid requires action to slow everything down. Read on to learn more about this once deadly disease.

Hyperthyroidism occurs when you have an overactive thyroid gland. The result of this excess activity is called thyrotoxicosis, which means that you have too much thyroid hormone circulating in your blood.

Hyperthyroidism is less common than hypothyroidism. According to the AACE, the condition occurs in almost 1 percent of the U.S. population. Women are affected five to ten times more often than men are.

The cause of hyperthyroidism varies among patients, but identifying the cause is essential to figuring out your treatment. The most common culprit is Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition. In Graves’ disease, autoantibodies attack the thyroid gland, causing it to release excess amounts of thyroid hormone.

Some people develop hyperthyroidism as the result of toxic multinodular goiter. This condition is most common in adults over the age of sixty who have been living with an untreated goiter for a long time. In that time, the goiter develops nodules that begin to churn out a supply of thyroid hormone on their own, without any prodding from the pituitary gland.

Essential

Many patients who have hyperthyroidism develop hypothyroidism after treatment. In some cases, the diseased gland is destroyed intentionally, knowing that the patient will go into a hypothyroid state. But remember, although hypothyroidism is often easily treated with thyroid replacement hormone, its treatment can be difficult. It used to be thought that it was much better to be hypothyroid than hyperthyroid, but with studies showing many hypothyroid patients dissatisfied with their health status, that difference is less clear.

Hyperthyroidism may also be the result of a single toxic nodule, a condition called Plummer’s disease, which was named after Henry Stanley Plummer, an American doctor who actually discovered toxic multinodular goiter. Another name for this condition is single hot nodule, or toxic adenoma. Like toxic multinodular goiter, this single nodule will produce more thyroid hormone than your body needs, causing you to become hyperthyroid.

Some people may develop hyperthyroidism as a result of subacute thyroiditis, in which the thyroid gland becomes enlarged, inflamed, and painful. The result of this inflammation is the release of too much thyroid hormone

In other cases, the hyperthyroidism is the result of silent thyroiditis, in which the thyroid gland becomes painlessly inflamed. After giving birth, about 5 to 10 percent of women may develop a form of this condition called postpartum thyroiditis. In both silent and postpartum thyroiditis, the thyroid may remain overactive for one to two months, followed by several months of hypothyroidism. Eventually, normal thyroid function resumes, though some people become permanently hypothyroid.

Some cases of hyperthyroidism result from eating too much iodine, the mineral the thyroid uses to produce thyroid hormone. Experts call this iodine-induced hyperthyroidism. It may occur in people who take certain medications such as amiodarone, which is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms. It may also occur in people who take kelp, a type of seaweed that has been touted as a health supplement for numerous ailments.

Question

Who is at risk for hyperthyroidism?
Being a woman increases your odds for hyperthyroidism — especially if you’re pregnant. The condition is also more common in people between the ages of thirty and fifty. In addition, your risk goes up if you have a family or personal history of thyroid problems. People who have an autoimmune disease; such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or type 1 diabetes; are more likely to get Graves’ disease, a type of hyperthyroidism, as well.

Finally, some people can develop hyperthyroidism when they are being treated for hypothyroidism. This type of hyperthyroidism may occur when the dose of thyroid hormone replacement is too high. It is usually corrected once the dosage is properly adjusted.

What Hyperthyroidism Looks Like

When your body produces too much thyroid hormone, everything speeds up. In fact, your metabolism may increase by as much as 60 to 100 percent — as much as double its normal speed. As you might imagine, this can produce profound effects on how your body functions and on how you feel.

Alert

In healthy people, it’s normal for your heart to speed up during exercise, activity, or stress. But in people with hyperthyroidism, your heart may beat this fast even when you are sitting still or asleep. If your heart rate goes above 100 beats per minute, you are said to have tachycardia. A sustained rapid heart rate always warrants medical attention

But as with hypothyroidism, these symptoms may develop slowly. When you first become hyperthyroid, you may feel fine and have no symptoms at all. But gradually, as your thyroid gland becomes increasingly active, you will start to notice changes that will become more bothersome over time.

Your Heart

Most people with hyperthyroidism will notice that their heart is beating faster, even during periods of rest. In some people, the heart rate speeds up to more than 100 beats a minute. In older people, a sped-up heart can lead to irregular rhythms, which can be dangerous in people with other forms of heart disease.

The effects on your heart can be easily measured. Your blood pressure will be higher than normal. Your pulse will be considerably faster. In some people, a sped-up heart can feel as if it is beating out of their chest, which is called palpitations. The increase in your heart rate can cause other symptoms, too, such as headaches, breathlessness, and dizziness.

Nervousness and Irritability

People with an overactive thyroid frequently feel on edge, nervous, and anxious. They may have trouble catching their breath. They may fidget and experience tremors in their hands. In their dealings with other people, they may be irritable and argumentative. The nervousness often causes difficulties with sleep, leading to frequent bouts of insomnia. Doug says he remembers feeling very agitated.

All his life, Doug always felt as if he had energy to burn. But at thirty-nine, his energy levels seemed to spike. He was quickly agitated and noticed that he was sweating more than usual while playing basketball. He also started having occasional heart palpitations and wondered if he was having a panic attack. Looking back, he remembers many times when he felt as if he was on a caffeine buzz. Now he wonders if it was his overactive thyroid.

Weight Changes

Many people with hyperthyroidism experience weight loss and changes in their appetite. These changes in weight and appetite are the result of a revved up metabolism that causes your body to burn up energy more rapidly.

Most people notice an increase in their appetite as their body’s energy needs increase. But even with the extra food they’re eating, many of them may still be losing weight. Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism, including diarrhea and heavy sweating, can compound your weight loss, too.

Still others with hyperthyroidism will lose all interest in eating and rapidly lose weight. If this occurs in teenagers, they may be mistakenly diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Less common, some people’s appetites surpass their stepped up metabolic rates, resulting in weight gain. An increase in weight may also be caused in part by extreme exhaustion, which can make it hard for you to exercise or stay active.

The GI Tract

Hyperthyroidism causes your gastrointestinal tract to digest foods more quickly. The excess hormone causes an increase in the contractions in your bowels. As a result, you may notice more frequent bowel movements or, in more severe cases, diarrhea.

The Eyes

The eyes are sensitive to the effects of thyroid hormone, and patients with severe hyperthyroidism will develop a stare in which the eyes appear to have a wide-eyed, startled appearance.

A different type of eye condition is common in people who have Graves’ disease and is called thyroid eye disease, exophthalmos, or infiltrative ophthalmology. With thyroid eye disease, the eyeball bulges. This bulging is caused by...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• What Is Hyperthyroidism?
• Treating Hyperthyroidism
• Graves’ Disease
• Also Available
• Copyright Page